Study: Homeowners Are Less Likely to Move Than Renters

Only 11.21% of Americans – 35.7 million – moved within a year of the most recent American Community Survey in 2022, according to a data analysis published by LendingTree. As for those who moved, 79.29% stayed in the same state.

Among those who moved, 53.93% relocated within their county while 25.36% moved to a different county in the same state and 20.71% picked up and left for a new state.

Homeowners were less likely to move than renters – 92.67% of residents in owner-occupied homes stayed in their current residences compared with 80.28% in renter-occupied homes. And while homeowners were less likely to move than renters, they also relocated to further locations – 48.91% of movers in owner-occupied homes left the county or state, compared with 43.75% in renter-occupied homes.

Among the states, the largest shares of the population who moved were in Colorado (15.26%), Oregon (14%) and Wyoming (13.89%). The states with the smallest share of movers were Delaware (8.21%), Maine (8.52%) and New Hampshire (8.81%).

“Long-distance relocations can take a greater toll mentally and financially than staying local,” said Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree. “As a result, most Americans don’t appear to be keen on packing their bags and leaving their current stomping grounds. Going forward, this trend will likely persist.”